Method and apparatus for assembling rivets



y 9,1958 J. F. HAMLIN IETAI. 2,844,924

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING RIVETS Filed May 20, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 f/G. .9 INVENTORS l5 JERRY F HAMLIN A 26 26b LOU/S NASH/MAN t BY ATT o/PA/Ers July 29,1958 J. F; HAMLIN ETAL' 2,344,924

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING RIVETS Filed May 20, 1957 I I 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JERRY F HAMLIN v LOU/S NEWMAN ATTOR rs J y 1958 J. F. HAMLIN ErAL 844,924

- METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASVSEMBLING RIVETSI Filed Ma 20, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet s IN VEN TORS M l .A T TOPNEV JERRY E HAMLIN:

LOU/S, NEWMAN United States Patch-t METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING RIVETS Jerry F. Hamlin, San Rafael, and Louis Newman, Oakland, Calif.

Application May 20, 1957, Serial No. 660,135

11 Claims. (CI. 53-26) This invention relates to a method and apparatus for assembling rivets on a wire or similar mandrel.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved a wire or similar member so that the assembly may be readily handled for packaging and use in a riveting gun or similar device.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved method for assembling rivets upon a wire or I similar member which is provided with a rivet upsetting enlargement at one end and which is provided with an enlargement at the other end for holding a predetermined number of rivets assembled thereon to facilitate'packaging of the rivet assemblies and also to facilitate loading of the rivet assemblies into riveting guns or devices.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for assembling rivets on a wire or similar member, said apparatus comprising a rivet support holding a predetermined number of rivets assembled in single file while the wire or similar member is threaded through the single file of rivets.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for assembling rivets on a wire or similar member, said apparatus comprising a support for holding a single file of rivets while the wire or similar member is threaded therethrough and while the ends of the Wire or similar member are upset to retain the rivets assembled thereon.

similar Other and further objects of this invention will be aparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a method and apparatus for assembling hollow rivets on a wire or similar mandrel so that such assemblies may be conveniently packaged, shipped and used in riveting guns. The rivets are first placed into a hopper or similar device in which they are arranged so that they may be fed down a plurality of slides or chutes to a single file rivet support which is provided with suitable rivet supporting means.

This rivet supporting means comprises a member having an elongated groove extending longitudinally thereof I and also having a plurality of narrow transverse slots for receiving the rivet heads. Thus when the rivets are assembled on this supporting means, the bodies thereof are lodged in the longitudinal groove and the heads are lodged in the transverse slots which are spaced apart by distances slightly greater than the overall rivet length. Accordingly, when the rivet support is filled with rivets, they are arranged in a single file in which the rivets are slightly spaced and this single file of rivets is retained on the support by suitable fingers while the wire is threaded therethrough. The leading end of the wire is gripped by suitable jaws so that said leading end may be provided provided to each of the chutes.

with a rivet upsetting enlargement. At the other end of the single file of rivets the wire is cut olf, leaving a short length of wire projecting beyond the rivet support and the end of this short length is mashed between a pair of jaws to provide a flattened enlargement which functions to prevent the rivets from falling off of the wire during packaging and handling. After this procedure, the rivet and wire assembly is released from the support.

Further features of this invention will be set forth in the following specification, claims and drawing in which briefly:

Figure 1 is an end view partially in section, of an embodiment of the rivet assembling apparatus made in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 22 of Figure 1 taken through a. portion of the rivet arranging hopper mechanism;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of one of the rivet slides or chutes and is taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the lower end of one of the rivet slides showing the mechanism for releasing the rivets one by one from one of the slides to the single file rivet support;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing a rivet being released;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figures 4 and 5 showing a rivet lodged on the rivet support and held therein while the wire mandrel is threaded therethrough;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figures 4, 5 and 6 showing the rivet assembly being ejected from the support;

Figure 8 is a plan view illustrating the rivet support and also showing the control mechanism schematically; and

Figure 9 is a view of the rivet and wire assembly.

Referring to the drawing in detail, reference numeral 10 designates a rivet hopper having a funnel-shaped cavity at the top thereof for receiving a quantity of rivets that are to be properly oriented and fed to the rivet slides or chutes 11 that are attached to-suitable openings in the bottom part of the hopper. A rotatable cylinder 12 that is suported by the shaft 13, driven by a suitable motor (not shown), is positioned so as to be substantially concentric with the cylinder portion of the hopper 10. The rotatable cylinder 12 is provided with a plurality of grooves 14 around the circumference thereof and each of these grooves includes a somewhat deeper groove 14a arranged to receive the head of the rivet 15 when said rivet is properly oriented so that the body thereof lies in the major part of the groove and is substantially flush with the outer surface of the groove spacing ridges 16. A small spacing is provided between the ridges 16 and the inner surface of the cylinder cavity of the hopper 10 so that the exposed portion of the head of the rivet 15 clears said surface without snagging or abrasive contact.

As the cylinder member 12 is rotated on the shaft 13, the rivets placed into the funnel-shaped opening of the hopper 10 align themselves and fall into the grooves 14 with the heads thereof extending into the narrower and deeper grooves 14a. In the course of the rotation of this cylinder the rivets 15 proceed around the circumference of the cylinder to the openings at the upper ends of the chutes 11 which are aligned with the grooves 14 and thus positioned to receive the rivets from the hopper 10. Each of the chutes 11 is made with a cross section such as shown in Figure 3 so as to receive the properly oriented rivets. The body portion of the rivet rolls down the substantially rectangular portion 11a of the chute and the head portion of the rivet extends down into the deeper part of the chute 11b. A part of the head of the rivet is exposed and extends out of the lonigtudinal opening ing bin.

The rivets ,15 slide down the chutes 11 to the rivet releasing mechanism 17 associated with each chute. All of these releasing mechanisms 17 are mounted on the shaft 18 to be rotatable therewith. A rack and pinion device including the rack 19 and pinion 20 that is mounted on the shaft 18 is provided for the purpose of rotating the rivet releasing mechanisms 17 through a predetermined angle of approximately 90. Each of the rivet releasing mechanisms 17 is provided with a rivet receiving notch 17a that is provided with a rounded portion for receiving the body of the rivet. This notch 17a terminates in a hook portion near the lower end thereof and the top end thereof joins the arcuate surface 17b of the mechanism. Thus the rivet 15 is lodged in the notch 17a as shown in Figure 4 and as the mechanism 17 is rotated by the upward motion of the rack 19 operating on the pinion 20, the lower rivet 15 is released while the next rivet 15a is retained in the chute 11 by the arcuate surface 17b of the rivet release mechanism 17. The upper wall of the chute 11 may be given a curved configuration 11c in order to clear the arcuate surface 17b.

The released rivets are received by the elongated rivet support 21 that is provided with a longitudinal groove 21a for receiving the bodies of the rivets 15, and a plurality of transverse slots 21b for receiving the heads of the rivets.

The bottom ends 1111 of the chutes 11 are attached to the rivet support 21 by suitable screws 11:: so that the chutes 11 are held in proper alignment with the support 21. Thus the head receiving portions 11b of the chutes 11 are held in alignment with the transverse slot 21b of the rivet support 21. These transverse slots 2117 are separated by rivet slide members 210 which function to engage the bodies of the rivets and guide them into the longitudinal groove 21a.

After the rivet releasing mechanisms 17 are operated as shown in Figure and a rivet is placed into each of the rivet positions on the support 21, the rivet retaining fingers 22 that are attached to the rotatable shaft 23 are operated to engage the bodies of the rivets and hold them in position on the rivet support 21 as shown in Figure 6. For this purpose a finger 22 is provided for each of the rivet receiving positions of the support and these fingers 22 are all mounted on the rotatable shaft 23 which is adapted to be rotated by the rack and pinion device including the rack 24 and the pinion 25 that is also mounted on the shaft 23 as shown in Figure 6. After the fingers 22 are brought into engagement with the bodies of the rivets 15 to retain said rivets in position on the support 21, the wire member 26 is threaded through all of the rivets positioned on the support and the leading end of this wire 26, which extends out beyond the support 21 as shown in Figure 8, is firmly gripped between a pair of jaws 27 and the hammer member 28 is brought into engagement with the end of the wire 26 to upset this end into the cavity 27a of the jaws 27. This cavity is shaped so as to provide a rivet upsetting surface 26b to the wire 26 when said wire is pressed into said cavity.

At the same time as the wire 26 is upset in the cavity 27a, the wire 26 is cut off from the wire supply a short distance beyond the other end of the rivet support 21 by a wire cutting mechanism 29 and a pair of jaws 30 is pressed against the cut off end of the wire to provide a flattened end portion 26a thereto which functions to prevent the rivets from sliding off of said wire.

The wire and rivet assembly is then released by the fingers 22 through the operation of the rack 24 and pinion 25 and the assembly is lifted out of the support 21 by a plurality of plungers such as the plungers 31, that are slidably positioned in suitable holes formed in the support 21. The top ends of the plungers 31 are slightly tapered so that when they lift the rivet assembly, they guide it onto the inclined surfaces of the support 21 over which the rivet assembly rolls downward into a suitable collect- The racks 19 and 24, the plungers 31, the jaws 27, the'hammer 28, the jaws and the wire cut off 29 may all be operated by individual hydraulic or air pressure devices which are illustrated schematically in Figure 8, the operation of which will now be described. The rack 19 is attached to a piston that is positioned in the cylinder which is connected to the valve 36 by means of the pipe 37. The valve 36 is operated by the solenoid 38 which is connected to the switch 39 that is controlled by the rotatable cam 40. The cam 40 is rotated by the shaft 41 on which it is supported, so that the switch 39 is closed and the solenoid 38 is energized by electric current from the battery 48 to open the valve 36 so that fluid pressure passes from the fluid pressure supply 42 through the pipe lines 43 and 37 into the cylinder 35 to move the piston associated with this cylinder upward, thereby moving the rack 19 upward and rotating the pinion 20 and rivet release mechanism 17 so that one rivet is released from each of the slides 11 to the support 21. Further rotation of the cam 40 opens the switch 39 and de-energizes the solenoid 38 so that the valve 36 opens the pipe line 37 to the atmosphere and permits the spring 44 to return the rack 19 to its lower position as shown in Figure 4. At the same time the cam 45 which is also mounted on the shaft 41 to be rotatable therewith, closes the switch 46, one side of which is connected to the solenoid 47 and the other side of which is connected to one terminal of the battery 48. The other terminal of the battery 48 is connected to the other side of the solenoid 47. When the solenoid 47 is energized it operates the valve 49 which is also connected to the fluid pressure supply pipe line 43, and functions to control the supply of fluid pressure to the cylinder 50 through the line 51. The piston of the cylinder 50 is connected to the rack 24 and when fluid pressure is supplied to this cylinder through the pipe line 51, the rack 24 is moved upward against the tension of the spring 52. This causes the rack 24 to rotate the pinion 25 and bring the fingers 22 down on the rivets 15 to hold these rivets in place on the support 21. While these rivets are held in place, the cam 53, which is also mounted on the shaft 41, functions to close the switch 54. One side of this switch 54 is connected to one side of the motor 55 and the other side of this switch is connected to the battery 48. The other side of the motor 55 is connected to the other terminal of the battery 48 so that when the switch 5415 closed, the motor 55 is energized and caused to rotate the rollers 56 which engage the wire 26 and advance this wire through the rivets 15 that are positioned on the support 21. When the wire 26 is advanced through the rivets so that the advancing end thereof projects slightly through the jaws 27 as shown in Figure 8, the cam 53 opens the switch 54, thereby stopping the motor 55. At the same time, the cam 57, which is also supported on the shaft 41 and rotated thereby, closes the switch 58, one side of which is connected to the one terminal of the battery 48 and the other side of which is connected to one side of the solenoid 59 that operates the valve 60. The other side of the solenoid 59 is connected to the other terminal of the battery 48. The valve 60 is connected by the fluid supply pipe line 61 to the cylinders 62, 63, 64, and 66. The cylinder 62 operates the wire cutter 29 and causes this cutter to sever the wire 26. At the same time the cylinder 63 presses one of the jaws 30 against the cut off end of the wire 26 and flattens this wire against the other jaw 30. While this operation is taking place, the cylinders 64 and 65 operate the jaws 27 to grip the wire 26 therebetween and immediately after the jaws 27 grip the wire, the cylinder 66 presses the hammer 28 against the end of the wire to upset said end. The wire and rivet assembly positioned on the support 21 is now completed and ready to be removed from this support. The cam 45 now opens the switch 46, thereby de-energizing the solenoid .47 and permitting the valve 49 to close so that the piston of the cylinder 50 may be returned to its lower position by the spring 52. At the same time the rack 24 is lowered and the fingers 22 release the rivets 15. During this interval, the cam 57 also opens the switch 58, thereby de-energizing the solenoid 59 and closing the valve 60 to cut off fluid pressure from the cylinders 62, 63, 64, 65 and 66 which are permitted to return to their initial positions by suitable springs (not shown). The cam 67 then closes the switch 68 which connects the source of current supply to the solenoid 69. The solenoid 69 opens the valve 70, thereby supplying fluid pressure to the cylinder 71. The piston of the cylinder 71 is mechanically connected to operate the plungers 31 and move these plungers upward to lift the rivet and Wire assembly out of the support 21 as shown in Figure 7.

The switch actuating cams 40, 45, 53, 57 and 67 are all mounted on the shaft 41 to be rotatable therewith, and this shaft is connected to the speed reducing mechanism 72 which is connected to the motor 73. The motor 73 may be the same motor as is employed for rotating the cylinder 12 shown in Figure l and this motor and the mechanism 72 are arranged to rotate the shaft 41 so that the aforesaid cams function to close the switches associated therewith in the proper sequence to accomplish the operation described. This apparatus may be placed in continuous operation for assembling rivets on wires as described as long as the motor 73 is energized, and the foregoing description illustrates one complete cycle of such operation. It is of course obvious that the racks 19 and 24 and the plungers 31, as Well as the cutter 29, jaws 30 and 27 and the wire upsetting hammer 28, may be operated by suitable cams which may be mounted upon a suitable motor driven shaft or shafts to produce the operation described, if desired. In that event the various solenoid operated valves and fluid pressure actuated cylinders described, may be eliminated, or selected ones thereof may be eliminated since the function thereof would be replaced by suitable cams.

While we have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention it will be understood that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that its scope should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

We claim:

1. The method of assembling hollow rivets having a head at one end thereof comprising the steps of arranging a plurality of rivets into a single file with their heads in one direction, holding the rivets in the single file, passing a wire through the hollow single file of rivets, upsetting one end of the wire to form a rivet upsetting surface on said end, and forming a rivet retaining enlargement on the other end of the wire.

2. The method of assembling hollow rivets having a head at one end thereof, as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that the rivets are fed to an elongated rivet support to form the single file.

3. The method of assembling hollow rivets having a head at one end thereof, as set forth in claim 2, further characterized in that the holding of the rivets in a single file comprises clamping the rivets against the elongated support.

4. The method of assembling hollow rivets having a head at one end thereof, as set forth in claim 3, further characterized in that the wire emerging from the end of the single file of rivets is gripped between jaws and the end of the wire is upset against the jaws.

5. The method of assemblying hollow rivets having a head at one end thereof, as set forth in claim 4, further characterized in that the wire is fed from a reel and cut off after it is threaded through the single file of rivets.

6. The method of assembling hollow rivets having a head at one end thereof, as set forth in claim 5, further characterized in that rivet and wire assembly is bodily raised out of its support after the respective ends of the wire are upset and enlarged to retain the rivets on the wire.

7. An apparatus for assembling hollow headed rivets comprising an elongated rivet receiving support for supporting a single file of rivets, said support having a longitudinal slot therethrough in which the bodies of a plurality of rivets may be placed end to end, said support also having a plurality of transverse slots in which the heads of the rivets are adapted to be lodged, and a plurality of rivet feeding means positioned to feed rivets to each of the rivet positions of said support.

8. An apparatus for assemblying hollow headed rivets, as set forth in claim 7, further comprising rivet orienting means for supplying rivets to said rivet feeding means.

9. An apparatus for assembling hollow headed rivets, as set forth in claim 8, further comprising means for clamping the rivets in said support and means for threading a Wire through the single file of rivets while they are so clamped.

10. An apparatus for assembling hollow headed rivets, as set forth in claim 9, further comprising means for upsetting one end of the wire to provide a rivet upsetting enlargement to said wire.

11. An apparatus for assembling hollow headed rivets, as set forth in claim 10, further comprising means for providing a rivet retaining enlargement to the other end of said wire.

No references cited. 

